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‘The only person to blame for BJP loss is Advani’
How we behave as winners, it is said, reveals a lot about our character. How we behave as losers, it must be said, reveals even more. Suddenly Loh Purush becomes …
How the Congress family defeated Sangh Parivar
Say what you will, but at least Pramod Mahajan had the courage to come out and face the cameras and, with some humility and a smile on his face, try …
Free, frank, fearless? No. Grubby, greedy, gutless
A significant outcome of the 2009 general elections has been the “outing” of the corruption in the Indian news media. What was earlier, usually, seen as an individual transgression has …
11 Muslim ministers in Manmohan Singh team?
The number of Muslim MPs has come down from 36 in 2004 to 29 in 2009 (including three women) although the general belief is that Muslim voters played a key …
As Tom said, price of freedom is eternal vigilance
The saga surrounding the inclusion of various members of the Karunanidhi family in the Manmohan Singh council of ministers continues. As per current indications, MK’s eldest son M.K. Azhagiri and …
‘The date of India’s debut as a great power’
Fareed Zakaria in Newsweek: “One can date precisely China’s debut as a great power. It was the evening of 8 August 2008—the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. We might …
Plus la Cong change, plus c’est la meme chose *
Among the many cute arguments that have been advanced for the surprise Congress win in the 2009 elections is the “young face” it presented to a nation 56% of which …
‘Fitting finale to five years of foolish opposition’
R. Jagannathan in DNA argues that the BJP lost the plot not in March 2009, when the bugle was sounded for the latest election, but in 2004, when it stumbled …
What if Yediyurappa had lost the polls in State…
MATHIHALLI MADAN MOHAN writes from Hubli: Is the phenomenal electoral success of the BJP in Karnataka the cause for L.K. Advani‘s dream of becoming the country’s Prime Minister to be …
Is Iron Man still pumping iron for the cameras?
GAUTAMA POLANKI captures the elasticity of the Loh Purush— “Sardar Patel II”—two days after Verdict 2009 underlined once and for all the strength of the Sardar he called nikamma. Also …
There’re known unknowns & unknown unknowns
A press conference is no longer just a press conference. Not when the person behind the mikes is a humble farmer from Holenarsipur. There are footnotes, fine prints, subtexts, things …
An exit poll that defies the Election Commission
The exit polls of the elections for the 15th Lok Sabha will start rolling out this evening. But before NDTV, CNN-IBN and Star News can tell us how we voted, …
And Abdullah and Gowda and Patnaik and Pawar
Ramachandra Guha in The Telegraph, Calcutta: “Jawaharlal Nehru did not hope or desire that his daughter should succeed him as prime minister — a fact that is not as widely …
As Ravi Shastri might say, it’s a two-paced wicket
At the time of the assembly elections in Karnataka last year, churumuri.com conducted what used to be the norm in Indian journalism but has become a rarity: an old-fashioned, gumshoe, …
CHURUMURI POLL: Single largest party in 2009?
It now appears certain that neither the BJP nor the Congress, nor certainly the Third Front or the Fourth Front, is likely to bag 273 seats on its own to …
‘Indian media holding Indian democracy ransom’
The Wall Street Journal‘s bureau chief in India, Paul Beckett, has a major piece on the rampant corruption in the media in the election coverage, with advertising masquerading as news …
Not quite what the spokespersons say on TV
Either everybody is getting it wrong or everybody is getting it right. Or everybody is playing it safe. This is the third table-top prediction by editors of The Times of …
That’s why they asked you to shut up and vote
An analysis by the Association of Democratic Reforms of the affidavits filed by 258 sitting MPs seeking reelection in the 2009 general elections shows that more than half of them …
Everybody loves a good “poor voter turnout”
The poor turnout in “literate” constituencies like Bangalore South and Bombay South has left everyone confused. OTOH, many point to the futility of the media-entertainment-industry campaign to get the “educated …
‘TA-DA Sky. Isko laga dala to wife jhinga lala.’
E.R. RAMACHANDRAN writes: Ajji had just watched election coverage on TV. It was clear she was restless. She had just watched a no-holds-barred, gloves-off, bloody slugfest. “Yen Ajji, yochne madtha …
A VIP finger so right that it is almost to the left
The BJP’s candidate from the Shimoga Lok Sabha constituency B.Y. Raghavendra provides visual evidence that he cast his ballot the right way on Thursday, while his father, the chief minister, …
Thankfully, he didn’t need to strap a helmet on
Former deputy chief minister Siddaramaiah hops on to a photo-op while campaigning in Mysore on Tuesday. But looking at the number of people lending him a hand, and looking at …
Like in an ODI or T20 match, every single counts
The latest desktop calculations of the editors of DNA with the two main alliances and the “others” running neck-and-neck. An opinion poll reportedly conducted for a weekly newsmagazine by a …
An epitaph to the literate, educated middle-class
One of the big cliches about Indian elections is that “the educated middle-class” voters do not come out to vote because they do not find the kind of candidate they …
Eight more questions for The Great Debator
The third instalment of Mallika Sarabhai‘s questions for the sitting MP from prime minister-in-waiting Lalchand Kishinchand Advani, contesting from the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency: # What do you have to …